Elder Wei was in no rush. “There’s no need to hurry, just leave him hanging for a while since there’s nowhere else to run. We should take a rest first and recover before further exploration.”

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Having reached a unanimous decision, everyone sat down to rest. Moments later, a fully recovered Elder Wei, along with Caroline and the rest, set out toward the mountain peak. Anderfel stayed back to guard the giant doors with several soldiers, lest the bug tides appear once more.

Compared to the many perils of the underground world, this place was beautiful and silent—so silent that it made people nervous. Even those veteran warriors couldn’t help but gasp in shock when the quaking heartbeat resounded once more.

Elder Wei, however, seemed delighted. “It would seem that thing is indeed here.”

“Just what is it? Can’t you say it yet?” Caroline inquired.

“You’ll know once you arrive.” Elder Wei wasn’t willing to speak.

Caroline asked no more. She only smiled coldly and followed along.

The group quickly arrived at the forest borders and proceeded toward the mountain peak. Elder Wei traveled at a steady pace, almost as though he had no interest in a hurried exploration. Caroline also stopped flying and walked obediently on the ground.

The two of them didn’t mention the reason, but Keimor erased any thoughts of flying after seeing their actions. He would only be courting death by taking to the air when even the two divine champions were not.

At this moment, Qianye had arrived at the bottom of the mountain. Glancing upward, he could see that the mountain was even higher and more precipitous than he had imagined. Its peak was entirely hidden within the clouds and probably a thousand meters high at the very least.

This isolated space was fairly strange and deviated from common sense in many aspects. Be it the forest or the mountain, both of them felt somewhat distorted in Qianye’s perception. It was just that the knowledge regarding spatial composition was simply too profound and not something Qianye could easily comprehend. Even divine champions only possessed a bit of this knowledge.

The special aspects of this place seemed more artificial than natural. If all of this was really set up by someone, just how earth-shattering must his abilities be?

The scenery before Qianye transformed before he reached the top—a mountain path actually appeared in the steep cliff, winding up into the depths of the clouds.

This threshold was similar to the giant door—the moment Qianye stepped through, he knew that he was in a different space. The entire mountaintop expanded more than ten times as soon as the mountain path appeared.

Even Qianye was somewhat hesitant in the face of such a phenomenon. He knew not what dangers lay ahead on the peak, but he was quite certain that he was no match for them.

He would be taking a pointless risk by heading into the unknown. The best course of action was to wait for Elder Wei, Caroline, and the others to scout out the path. However, there was no hiding place at the base of the mountain. Looking back, he could see some of the treetops swaying in the forest—it would seem the other party was not so far away. He would very likely be intercepted if he turned back now. Caroline’s combat strength was astonishing and Elder Wei possessed many strange powers. Who knew how many of those ancient envelopes he had in his pocket? Turning back was a sure path to demise.

Qianye gritted his teeth and stepped onto the mountain path. He had a vendetta against the imperial military. Whatever they wanted, he had to snatch it from them.

The scenery in front of him shifted the moment he took the first step. The path beyond the ten-meter point in front of him was shrouded in dense mist. The fog here was somewhat similar to the one over the Eastern Sea—its interference on perception was abnormally powerful, only extending a dozen meters or so.

Qianye finally sensed the vital aura of the mountain peak as he set foot on the mountain path. This wasn’t because Qianye’s perception was so powerful, but because the vitality here was simply too vast, almost clouding out the entire sky! Qianye’s own vitality was like a small pond compared to this ocean-like entity. The rumbling heartbeat shaking the entire island had originated from this mountaintop.

Qianye started climbing upward after a moment of hesitation. If the creature living atop this mountain was the fabled Earth Dragon, Qianye could neither beat it nor escape. Since he had already arrived at this place, his only lifeline was the hope that the dragon would ignore a small insect like him. At that point, Qianye could hide near the colossus and wait quietly for his opponents. No matter how careless the Earth Dragon was, there was no way it would allow two divine champions to approach.

Elder Wei, with his mysterious tricks, might be an exception, but Caroline was shrouded in lightning and fire—she couldn’t hide even if she wanted to. Even if they did have methods to hide their aura, Qianye would ambush them and force their hand. Once the dragon was awake, there was no need to debate whether it would focus on Qianye or the divine champion.

Going upward, Qianye suddenly noticed that his body had grown slightly heavier. He checked his body and was surprised to find that his own vitality was withering under the pressure of the immense life force from the mountain peak, just as a small creature would go limp from fright when facing off against a monster.

Going further upward, the pressure became more and more evident. Qianye had no choice but to accelerate his blood core and strengthen his vitality, lest his aura withers progressively. Qianye felt more or less overwhelmed—he had only taken a dozen or so steps and climbed a couple of meters. How bad would this pressure be after approaching the peak?

However, it was already impossible to turn back as Elder Wei’s group had already walked out of the forest and arrived at the base of the mountain. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue the ascent.

“It’s him! He’s there!” As the person with the best eyesight, Caroline noticed Qianye immediately. At this point, Qianye was only a couple dozen meters above on the mountain path.

This distance was easily within reach for a divine champion. With a crack of her whip, Caroline sent a bolt of lightning streaking toward Qianye. The latter had no place to evade halfway up the mountain, his only other option being to jump down and land in front of Caroline.

Qianye glanced back and was shocked to find numerous bolts of lightning streaking toward him. He immediately brought out East Peak to receive Caroline’s blow. The divine champion had suffered heavy injuries during her fight against the giant crocodile, and her strength had been reduced drastically.

But the bolt of lightning rippled mid-flight and scattered in different random directions, finally landing on the mountain itself. The weird thing was that one bolt of lightning clearly landed beneath his feet, but the path was perfectly intact after the dust had settled.

Qianye was startled for a moment, but he soon recalled the two spatial transformations as he stepped into the path. It would seem that the two parties were on different planes, to begin with. At the thought of this, he became much more relieved and sped up his steps toward the mountaintop.

Caroline was also quite surprised after the missed attack. She roared in frustration, “I refuse to believe I can’t deal with a junior like you!”

A ball of lightning gathered on her whip and stretched out over ten meters. The accumulated power was shocking.

Elder Wei said all of a sudden, “Wait, there’s something wrong with the space here. He’s probably not on the same plane as us, or maybe there’s a layer between us. Don’t waste your energy, no amount of attacks will hit him if we’re not in the same plane.”

“A different space?” Caroline was startled. A spatial ruin was actually far beyond the level of a divine champion. Moreover, her knowledge was a far cry from the experts of the empire and their long inheritance. Elder Wei’s insight regarding this matter was vastly superior.

“What do we do now? Are you really going to let him go up like that?”

With narrowed eyes, Elder Wei glanced up at Qianye who was scaling the steps above. “We’ll go up, too. We can take him down once we catch up.”

“Then what are we waiting for!?” Caroline gnashed her teeth impatiently. But no matter how anxious she was, she no longer dared to act rashly after experiencing the spatial abnormalities here and had to move according to the old man’s instructions. This entire place was beyond perilous. If it wasn’t for Elder Wei—there was no need for the Earth Dragon to take action—just that giant pegmatite crocodile alone was enough to take her life.

Elder Wei kept his eyes on Qianye’s figure until he vanished around the corner. “We can go up now.”

Caroline resisted the urge to inquire further and followed Elder Wei up the mountain. The two spatial transitions along the way caused her expression to change sharply, and her arrogance was now replaced by seriousness. If everything here was man-made, the owner’s ability could be considered earth-shattering, and they could easily crush her with a simple movement.

As they walked on, Elder Wei explained, “If this old man isn’t wrong, the mountain is half-natural and half-artificial. The profundities here are the work of the gods. We’re probably in a different plane at this moment, there’s no way we can attack him even if we walk right past.”

Caroline was astonished. “What do we do then?”

Elder Wei smiled faintly. “This path is full of dangers, one can only push forward and not go back. Those heading back will have to pass through many spatial layers and will forever be lost if they’re unlucky. So the only way to leave is to head upward.”

“But what’s up there?” Caroline gazed toward the peak with a tense expression. At this point, she had stepped upward and could feel the terrifying aura from the mountaintop.

“The Earth Dragon, of course.”

“Earth Dragon!? Won’t we be heading to our deaths?” Caroline was shocked. She had come here this time to kill Qianye and see if she could get her hands on a drop of Earth Dragon blood. No matter how insolent she was, she would never believe that she could challenge the dragon. Approaching a void colossus like this was simply suicide.

“Of course not. Perhaps it was before, but after what that person did, the perilous situation has turned into something else. There will be benefits if we can reach the peak.” At this point, Elder Wei chuckled. “I did not come all the way here to die.”

“What benefits can there be? We won’t continue upward if you don’t say it.” Caroline had lost her patience.

“The biggest bounty here will aid the empire in its quest for domination, but is of no use to you. So there’s no difference whether you know or not. You’ll understand once you see it. Of course, you won’t be mistreated once I obtain that thing. The empire may be big, but we are always lacking in talents. With Your Excellency Caroline’s cultivation, it won’t be difficult to obtain land and title in the empire.”

The words land and title moved Caroline, but she was still doubtful. “Doesn’t that mean I’ll have to listen to the empire’s commands? My current life in Thunderfrost Temple is so free and easy, why would I want to bind myself?”